Exercise Eases Back Pain

GOOD HEALTH Dr. Paul Donohue

March 4, 1994|Dr. Paul Donohue

Dear Dr. Donohue: I am an overweight woman - I weigh 220 - who has suffered from severe lower-back aches for years. After X-rays, I was told I have a slipped disc. My doctor says all I can do is lose weight and take pain pills. What else is available? - V.V.

Dear V.V.: Your doctor is taking a most conservative view of things. He's not encouraging faith in the healing powers of modern medicine.

Weight loss is important, no doubt of that, and pain pills have their place in a pinch. But there your doctor and I part company.

Somehow, one or more of the cushioning pads between your spine sections has been squeezed out of position and is impinging on adjacent nerves. An answer can lie in strengthening the back muscles that normally keep the spine aligned. They often grow lax with age and lack of use. I'm talking exercise.

You might need professional advice in developing an exercise program that will restrengthen those muscles without causing strain on them. You might check with a physical therapist.

You can also relieve a surprising amount of the pain just with application of heat. That relaxes muscles that probably are going into spasm, one of the chief causes of backache. There also are medicines to help accomplish such muscle relaxation.

If your doctor is disinterested, try another - perhaps a rheumatologist or an orthopedist.

Dear Dr. Donohue: Are beer bellies the result of stretched stomach muscles, or are they caused by the substances in beer? - R.L.H.

Dear R.L.H.: All alcohol, not just beer, encourages beer bellies. That's because alcohol in any form provides the extra calories that lead to fat-cell storage. In addition, alcohol slows down fat-cell burning, further encouraging deposition in the handy abdominal area.

Dear Dr. Donohue: I hear a lot about rabies protection, but I have never met an actual living rabies victim. Am I to assume that rabies is often fatal? - N.N.I.

Dear N.N.I.: Rabies is almost always fatal. So it's fortunate that infections are so few and far between. In recent years, there have been an average of two cases annually in the United States. We can thank vaccines and booster vaccines, which they tell us nonetheless are underused by those who might be most at risk, such as hunters and spelunkers.